Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sudden deaths were reported to each procurator fiscal in each of the last three years where alcoholism or alcohol intoxication was given as a contributory cause of death

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The procurator fiscal has a duty to enquire into all sudden, suspicious, accidental, unexpected and unexplained deaths but there is no requirement to report or investigate every death where alcoholism or alcohol intoxication is a contributory cause. It is likely that many such deaths are not reported to the procurator fiscal.

  In relation to the deaths that are reported to the procurator fiscal, current Crown Office information systems do not record cause of death in a way that allows statistical information of the kind sought to be extracted.

Child Welfare

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken and what additional resources are being provided to improve access to qualifications, training and support for residential child care staff, in the light of the findings of the article by G Heron and M Chakrabarti, "Examining the perceptions and attitudes of staff working in community based children's homes: are their needs being met?", in Qualitative Social Work , Volume 1, 2002.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive, in partnership with employers, has made a significant investment in the training of the residential child care workforce. In 2001 the Executive established the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care to ensure residential child care staff across Scotland have access to the skills and knowledge they require. This has already made a significant impact.

  The Regulation of Care Act 2001 has created a regulatory framework for staff and residential child care staff will be amongst the first group to be registered. The act has introduced national care standards for care homes for young people. The standards are explicit about the need for employers to ensure staff are suitable and properly trained for this demanding area of practice.

Children And Young People

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the views of children and young people are sought as a matter of course during the formulation of its policies on education, children and young people.

Cathy Jamieson: The Child Strategy Statement issued by the Scottish Executive sets out the importance to all Scottish Executive Departments of taking account of the views and interests of children in developing policy that may affect them.

  The Executive commissioned Save the Children to develop the "re:action" Consultation Toolkit to facilitate consultation with children. Children’s views are being taken into account in a range of specific contexts: for example through the Scottish Youth Parliament, the Young Scot website and the Children’s Charter being drawn up in the light of the Child Protection Review It’s everyone’s job to make sure I’m alright. Children and young people participated in a wide range of events during the National Debate on Education.

  The views of young people leaving care have formed an important part of our work on throughcare and aftercare services, and Who Cares? Scotland have been commissioned to survey looked after children about their education attainments and improvements they would like to see.

Firearms

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many weapons were taken out of circulation in each of the last two amnesties on illegal firearms.

Mr Jim Wallace: Information for Scotland in respect of the last two national amnesties is given in the table.

  


Year 
  

Firearms 
  

Ammunition 
  

Other Weapons 
  



1988 
  

5,177 
  

221,703 
  

881 
  



1996 
  

3,428 
  

104,161 
  

466

Justice

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases have been marked no proceedings for reasons of (a) delay by the police or other reporting agency, (b) delay by the procurator fiscal, (c) lack of court resources, (d) procurator fiscal staff shortage and (e) time-bar in the current financial year to date.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: The information requested for the period April 2002 to end December 2002 is as follows:

  April 2002 to December 2002

  


Total Reports Received 
  

Total No Proceedings 
  

Delay Police or Reporting 
  Agency 
  

Delay PF 
  

Lack of
Court Resources 
  

PF
Staff Shortage 
  

Time-Bar 
  



224,779 
  

37,776 
  

11,533 
  

141 
  

0 
  

2 
  

1,861 
  



As % of Total Reports 
  

17% 
  

5% 
  

0.06% 
  

0% 
  

0% 
  

0.8% 
  



  There is strict guidance on use of these no proceedings categories by procurators fiscal when marking cases. In particular, the "time-barred" category is only to be used when the offences are time-barred at the time the report is received from the police or other reporting agency.

  While the overall proportion of cases marked no proceedings has remained steady, the proportion marked no proceedings because of delay in reporting by the police has increased since 2001-02, largely because of reporting problems in the Strathclyde Area. This is attributable by the police to a number of factors around an increase in detection rates, reporting policies, technology and resources. It is a temporary problem, which has been identified and is being addressed by the police, in partnership with the Area Procurators Fiscal in Strathclyde.

Ministerial Visits

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of overseas visits by each minister and deputy minister has been in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002 and (e) 2003.

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overseas visits each minister and deputy minister has made in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002 and (e) 2003.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-29052 on 9 September 2002, which provides the information requested from July 1999 to March 2002. The information for the current financial year will be published in June this year. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http:// www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its draft Nature Conservation (Scotland) Bill.

Ross Finnie: The draft bill, together with an accompanying policy statement on wildlife crime, will be launched on Tuesday 11 March. Consultation on the bill will run until Friday 6 June 2003. Introduction of the bill to Parliament, following consultation, will of course be a matter for a future administration.

  The draft bill builds upon a raft of successful recent Executive initiatives in the fields of natural heritage and the environment, including the delivery of high-priority wildlife crime measures in the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill, the current consultation on a new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy and the recent passage of the Water Environment and Water Services Bill.

  Publication of the draft bill not only fulfils an undertaking by the First Minister in his speech to Parliament of 30 May last year, but also delivers on our long-standing Programme for Government commitments to improving the system of nature conservation and to working with local communities to achieve effective protection for Scotland’s natural heritage.

  The draft bill will focus on three key policy strands – the conservation of biodiversity; improved protection for sites of special scientific interest and further measures to tackle wildlife crime. It will do so by updating the existing Wildlife and Countryside Act and by recognising the central role which land managers and local communities must play in achieving conservation goals.

  Our overarching objective in this draft bill is to establish a new system of nature conservation which is tailored to the nature of Scotland, but which also sets the protection and enhancement of our natural heritage firmly within the wider, global context of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Pre-School Education

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) three- and (b) four-year-olds have nursery places.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is given in Table 2 of the 2002 Pre-school and Daycare Census , a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 24310), and on the Scottish Executive website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00192-00.asp .

Pre-School Education

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) three- and (b) four-year-olds have had requests for nursery places refused in the last 12 months.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34156 on 5 March 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at   http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search . There have been no refusals for nursery places in the last 12 months. Information supplied by the local authorities shows that capacity exceeds demand.

Public Bodies

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people under 35 were appointed to the boards of public bodies in 2002.

Mr Andy Kerr: Of the 209 people appointed during 2002 to the boards of those Scottish public bodies that fall within the remit of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, a total of nine were under 35 years of age.

Rail Safety

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Network Rail to ensure adequate standards of safety following the recent derailment of a freight train at Carmuirs near Falkirk.

Lewis Macdonald: Under Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998, railway safety is a reserved matter and as such is the responsibility of the Department of Transport.

Residential Care

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the types of drugs prescribed in nursing and residential homes in each local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Prescription data collected centrally is not patient-specific.

  The decision on whether or not to prescribe a drug for a patient is always a matter for the clinical judgement of the patient’s doctor, informed by advice and guidance about the drug.

  The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 removed the distinction between residential care homes and nursing homes and all such services are now known as care homes.

  The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (the Care Commission) in regulating services against the legislative requirements and the relevant national care standards requires providers of care homes to keep accurate up-to-date records of all medicines for the use of service users. These records are kept on the premises from which the care service is provided.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what negotiations it has had with landowners and the Moray Council to ensure that improvements to the A95 are not delayed and who the landowners are along this route that are involved in any such negotiations

Lewis Macdonald: It would not be appropriate to provide details of negotiations with landowners for reasons of confidentiality. There are no negotiations with landowners or Moray Council that are currently delaying improvements to the A95.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance is given to the views of Scottish Natural Heritage when improvements to the trunk road network are proposed by BEAR Scotland Ltd and the relevant local authorities.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has procedures that require Scottish Natural Heritage to be consulted where proposed trunk road improvements may affect environmentally sensitive areas. Their views are always carefully considered.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many tenders have been received by BEAR Scotland Ltd for the work to re-open the A95 between Boharm and Craigellachie; what criteria have been set for these tenders to meet, and whether the criteria are satisfactory.

Lewis Macdonald: Tenders were received from six contractors who were asked to price the work to replace the failed section of road and bridge. All prospective contractors need to satisfy the Scottish Executive of their financial security and competence to undertake specific types of work before being placed on an approved list. Thereafter contractors price the work, which has to be undertaken to national standards.

  The use of tried and tested tendering procedures and national specifications will ensure that the work is carried out satisfactorily.

Rural Development

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution the equine industry makes to the rural economy.

Ross Finnie: Information on the contribution of the equine industry to the rural economy is not currently available.

Scottish Executive Publications

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to questions S1W-3812, S1W-3813 and S1W-3814 by Mr Jack McConnell on 1 February, 24 January and 1 February 2000 respectively, when the last volume of the Scottish Abstract of Statistics was published and what plans there are for future volumes.

Mr Andy Kerr: Scottish Abstract of Statistics was published annually up to 1996 and then in 1998. Following consultation with users, there are no plans to publish future volumes. Updated versions of information which appeared in the 1998 Abstract have already been published in a variety of ways, for example, on the Scottish Executive website.

  The Social Focus and Scottish Economic Statistics publications have replaced the Scottish Abstract of Statistics.

  Social Focus is an annual compendium that concentrates on a particular topic each year. The first edition of Social Focus concentrated on gender issues including health, education and the labour market. The 2003 edition will compare a range of statistics across urban and rural Scotland.

  Scottish Economic Statistics provides a range of data on the Scottish economy, as well as outlining the programme for economic statistics work in the Scottish Executive. In addition, it contains articles discussing current issues in economic statistics.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its aim of zero growth in the amount of municipal waste produced by 2010, contained in the National Waste Plan 2003 , is achievable without an increase in the level of public and local authority participation in waste minimisation, given the projected increases in waste produced.

Ross Finnie: The National Waste Plan 2003  makes it clear that local authority and public participation in waste minimisation will need to be developed and sustained to achieve the target of zero growth in municipal waste by 2010.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to encourage the procurement of new infrastructure for municipal waste processing through the private sector.

Ross Finnie: The Strategic Waste Fund has been established by the Executive to support the procurement of the new infrastructure and services by local authorities. It can provide support for capital or revenue expenditure including public private partnership projects. It is for local authorities, in bidding to the fund, to demonstrate that their proposed procurement routes provide best value.

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown of the target of (a) recycling and (b) composting 25% of municipal waste by 2006

Ross Finnie: The expected contributions of recycling and composting to the achievement of the target are set out in table 4.1 on page 40 of the National Waste Plan 2003 , copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 26101).

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when local authorities can begin bidding for funding under the Strategic Waste Fund, as referred to in the executive summary of the National Waste Plan 2003 , and when the first round of funding will be awarded.

Ross Finnie: The fund has been in existence since 2001. For details of awards made to date, I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-33419 on 3 February 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at   http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Waste Management

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who the members will be of the Stakeholder Advisory Group which will facilitate the forward management and direction of the national waste plan.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is given on page 82 of the National Waste Plan 2003 , copies of which are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib number 26101).